Reply by lumberjoe

Angie, experiment with some other types of finishes as well. I am not a big fan of stains. If I want something dark, I will use dark wood. However my wife is and she is the boss, so almost everything I make for the house gets stained. You will find finishes like Danish Oil, and other natural oils are so much easier to apply and work with.

As the others have mentioned, what you have there will add color to your wood. It will still be as if it were bare though. You need to protect it and seal it somehow. There are many options, Just make sure what you chose is compatible with your stain